@yveaux

I've managed to replace the SMD resistors according to your suggested hack described above. It wasn't easy though. Anyway, it seems to work well. Thanks!!!

@yveaux said in CDEBYTE's new NRF24 modules are great! (and cheap):

This patch makes both regular and amplified nRF24 modules work correctly!

Dear @Yveaux

Thanks for all the work you've put into investigating this issue.

I have a different brand of the Nano IO Shield but the quality is equally very low. I guess I'll need to inspect them carefully before I use them. I guess I have 10 of them and I will try to apply the HW patch you've suggested but I'm not sure I'll be able to make it, I don't have any SMD resistors and they are to small to work with for me. I'll need to give it a try anyway.

Thanks again and merry christmas btw

@skywatch said in CDEBYTE's new NRF24 modules are great! (and cheap):

What current rating is the power source you are using?

I intend to run them on power level RF24_PA_MAX. I have tried other power levels in my efforts without any success.

@yveaux said in CDEBYTE's new NRF24 modules are great! (and cheap):

recently received the same Nano IO shields and discovered the IO lines to the nRF are fed through a voltage divider; levels are halved w.r.t. direct connection.
According to Nordic's datasheet this should be ok (minimum HIGH level input voltage is 0.7 * VDD, so 0.7 * 3.3V = 2.31V) as long as your Arduino is fed with 5V this should just work, but it is tricky IMHO.
You could measure the VCC of the Nano to see if it is below 5V, or try powering the board through the power jack and see if things improve.

That's interesting. I'm powering it with USB only but i have tried to connect an additional power source as well but it made no difference, I will do some more tests and measure the voltage levels.

@yveaux said in CDEBYTE's new NRF24 modules are great! (and cheap):

Did you also try the shielded module with #define MY_RF24_PA_LEVEL RF24_PA_MIN ?

From what I recall, I have tried RF24_PA_LOW. I will test RF24_PA_MIN too.

@yveaux said in CDEBYTE's new NRF24 modules are great! (and cheap):

Currently I'm out of Nanos, but as soon as the new batch comes in I can replicate your setup.

I'd be happy to send you one from my batch. Please send me a PM if you'd like that.

@alowhum said in CDEBYTE's new NRF24 modules are great! (and cheap):

Since moving to these boards all my connection troubles have stopped. I'm very happy with them.

Sounds very promising

@yveaux

I have spent 2 days trying to solve my various NRF24 related problems at my home.

What I'd like to achieve is to make my serial gateway using a NRF24-transciever with an external antenna to extends it's range.

CDEBYTE's new NRF24-transciever (the unshielded one) works in my serial gateway (built with a Nano IO Shield) and fed with USB power only. I can attach a separate power source if I want to but it seems to work well without it.

However, CDEBYTE's new shielded NRF24-transciever (Shielded nRF24L01 PA+LNA) refuses to work. I get only NACKs in the log even if I attach a separate power source. I've also tried just connecting my Nano board directly to the radio with cables (without the IO shield) just like in the Build a serial gateway demo. (I've tried all kind of power settings) I also tried to power the radio with a battery. Those NACKs are resilient indeed. Of course I've tried all kind of decouple capacitors and several combinations of electrolytic and ceramic ones... No way.

BUT, there is always a but isn't there? ... I have managed to get the CDEBYTE Shielded nRF24L01 PA+LNA to work stable on a battery powered node, a Pro Mini ATmega 328 (1.8V 1 MHz). I can't tell why that works while not working with the Nano.

My current working solution is using the "old" unshielded nRF24L01 PA+LNA mounted on the Nano IO Shield fed with usb power only. #define MY_RF24_PA_LEVEL RF24_PA_MAX While this seems to work (at least for the moment) I can not just switch to using the shielded radio.

So if someone succeeds using the CDEBYTE Shielded nRF24L01 PA+LNA connected to a Nano board I'm interested to hear how you made it work.

The thing is that everything that I have tried gives so random results that it's driving me crazy. Whatever seems to work one minute stops to work the next minute.

@yveaux I'll investigate further today and report here afterwards. Thanks.

@alowhum said in CDEBYTE's new NRF24 modules are great! (and cheap):

I've also ordered a shielded version that I'm still waiting for.

Today, I've tried the unshielded one and the few that I've tried seem to work.

However, I haven't been able to make the shielded one work on a IO Shield for Arduino Nano. I've used antennas from older traditional NRF24L01+PA+LNA Antenna version. No way. I will try different decoupling-Capacitors tomorrow.

I feel I'm stuck in the NRF24-hell...

@mfalkvidd Thanks a lot for your suggestion. I will think this through during the day. It might still be problems due to the dynamic nature of the rain.

It would be hard for me to define a reasonable good value for MAX_NUMBER_OF_TRIPS_WITHOUT_SENSOR_REPORT when rain in the interval ranging from 11 mm per hour up to maybe as much as 240 mm per hour (extreme but not impossible) would disrupt the readings of other sensors.

I also have a doubt that my sketch will work well in a case where the Arduino is already awake (handling other sensors) when the rain bucket tips. It's just a guess but I believe that the tipping will not be counted at all in such a scenario.

What do you think? If so my sketch is badly designed (only myself to blame) and maybe I should consider giving the rain gauge it's own Arduino board. It would make things much cleaner. What do you think?

@Yveaux, you are right.

Hi guys.

I have a sketch for a battery powered node that sleeps a certain amount of time, let's say 2 minutes. unsigned long SLEEP_TIME = 120000; // Wait time between reads (in milliseconds) When it wakes up, it will check a few sensors and report new values (if any) to the gateway. So far so good.

However (there's always a but, isn't there?), the 2 minute sleep is allowed to be interrupted by the change of a pin. That pin is connected to a rain meter. Measuring the rain must be done instantly.

Every time that the loop() function runs, other sensors are checked.

That's OK if it rains normally but sometimes it rains like h*ll. I'm concerned that the rain meter will be tripped so frequently that there is no time to check other sensors and report them to the gateway.

I'm useless when it comes to explain things. But I'd like the rain sensor to report whenever the rain sensor is tripped. I would like the other sensors to report at the 2 minutes interval regardless of the rain sensor. As it is now, every time the rain sensor interrupts the sleep, all sensors gets checked. I would like it to report the rain and go back to sleep the REMAINING SLEEP TIME. I understand if my explanation is beyond what ca be understood (it's worse than Kurt Olsson) so I add the source below:

/**
 * WeatherStation
 * 
 * DESCRIPTION
 * Arduino BH1750FVI Light sensor
 * communicate using I2C Protocol
 * this library enable 2 slave device addresses
 * Main address  0x23
 * secondary address 0x5C
 * connect the sensor as follows :
 *
 *   VCC  >>> 5V
 *   Gnd  >>> Gnd
 *   ADDR >>> NC or GND  
 *   SCL  >>> A5
 *   SDA  >>> A4
 * http://www.mysensors.org/build/light


https://forum.mysensors.org/topic/9359/soft-wdt-reset-on-esp8266-rfm69-gateway-after-find-parent/20
Connecting the BME280 Sensor:
Sensor              ->  Board
-----------------------------
Vin (Voltage In)    ->  3.3V
Gnd (Ground)        ->  Gnd
SDA (Serial Data)   ->  A4
SCK (Serial Clock)  ->  A5


For temperature measurements we've selected the standard Dallas DS18B20.

*/

#define MY_NODE_ID 15
#define SKETCH_NAME "Weather Station"
#define SKETCH_VERSION "1.1"
#define DWELL_TIME 200  // this allows for radio to come back to power after a transmission, ideally 0

// Enable debug Serial.prints to serial monitor
//#define MY_DEBUG 

#if defined MY_DEBUG

#define Sprintln(a) (Serial.println(a))
#define Sprint(a) (Serial.print(a))
#else 
#define Sprintln(a)
#define Sprint(a)
#endif

// Enable and select radio type attached
#define MY_RADIO_NRF24
//#define MY_RADIO_RFM69

#include <SPI.h>                                  // A communication backbone, the Serial Peripheral Interface.
#include <MySensors.h>                            // The MySensors library.
#include <Wire.h>                                 // Enables the Wire communication protocol.
#include <DallasTemperature.h>
#include <OneWire.h>
#include <BH1750.h>
//#include <BME280I2C.h> // From Library Manager
#include <Adafruit_Sensor.h>
#include <Adafruit_BME280.h>
#undef BME280_ADDRESS         // Undef BME280_ADDRESS from the BME280 library to easily override I2C address
#define BME280_ADDRESS (0x76) // Low = 0x76 , High = 0x77 (default on adafruit and sparkfun BME280 modules, default for library)

uint8_t tipSensorPin = 3; // Pin the tipping bucket is connected to. Must be interrupt capable pin

#define CHILD_ID_LIGHT 0
#define CHILD_ID_TEMP_1 1
#define CHILD_ID_TEMP_2 2 // Dallas DS18B20
#define CHILD_ID_HUM 3
#define CHILD_ID_BARO 4
#define CHILD_ID_RAIN 5

unsigned long SLEEP_TIME = 120000; // Wait time between reads (in milliseconds)
#define FORCE_TRANSMIT_CYCLE 30
uint8_t cycleCountLux = 0;
uint8_t cycleCountPressure = 0;
uint8_t cycleCountTemp2 = 0;
uint8_t cycleCountHum = 0;

int8_t interruptedBy = -1;

Adafruit_BME280 bme; // I2C
BH1750 lightSensor;

#define ONE_WIRE_BUS 5 // Digital pin where dallas sensor is connected 
OneWire oneWire(ONE_WIRE_BUS); // Setup a oneWire instance to communicate with any OneWire devices (not just Maxim/Dallas temperature ICs)
DallasTemperature DS18B20sensor(&oneWire); // Pass the oneWire reference to Dallas Temperature. 

uint16_t lastLux;
float lastPressure;
//float lastTemp1; // Temp from the BME280 Temp Hum Bar Sensor
float lastTemp2; // Dallas DS18B20. Temp
float lastHum;

float tempThreshold = 0.2;                        // How big a temperature difference has to minimally  be before an update is sent. Makes the sensor less precise, but also less jittery, and can save battery.
uint8_t humThreshold = 1;                         // How big a humidity difference has to minimally be before an update is sent. Makes the sensor less precise, but also less jittery, and can save battery.
uint8_t presThreshold = 1;
uint8_t luxThreshold = 1;

MyMessage msgLight(CHILD_ID_LIGHT, V_LEVEL);  
MyMessage msgTemp1(CHILD_ID_TEMP_1, V_TEMP);
MyMessage msgTemp2(CHILD_ID_TEMP_2, V_TEMP);
MyMessage msgHum(CHILD_ID_HUM, V_HUM);
MyMessage msgPressure(CHILD_ID_BARO, V_PRESSURE);
MyMessage msgRain(CHILD_ID_RAIN, V_TRIPPED);

void setup()  
{
  Wire.begin(); // Wire.begin(sda, scl) // starts the wire communication protocol, used to chat with the BME280 sensor.
  Sprint(SKETCH_NAME);
  Sprint(F(" version "));
  Sprint(SKETCH_VERSION);
  Sprint(F(" (using MY_NODE_ID: "));
  Sprint(MY_NODE_ID);
  Sprintln(F(") says hello!"));
  delay(500);// just in case
  Sprintln(F("Running bme.begin()"));
  if (!bme.begin())
   {
    Serial.println("BME init failed!");
   }
  else Sprintln("BME init success!");
  Sprintln(F("Running lightSensor.begin()"));
  lightSensor.begin();
  Sprintln(F("Running DS18B20sensor.begin()"));
  DS18B20sensor.begin(); // Startup up the OneWire library used for Dallas DS18B20 Temp
  DS18B20sensor.setWaitForConversion(false); // requestTemperatures() will not block current thread
  pinMode(tipSensorPin, INPUT); // sets the rain sensor digital pin as input
}

void presentation()  {
  // Send the sketch version information to the gateway and Controller
  sendSketchInfo(SKETCH_NAME, SKETCH_VERSION);
  wait(DWELL_TIME);
  // Register all sensors to gateway (they will be created as child devices)
  present(CHILD_ID_LIGHT, S_LIGHT_LEVEL);
  wait(DWELL_TIME);
  //present(CHILD_ID_TEMP_1, S_TEMP); //  Temp sensor on the BME280 multi sensor
  //wait(DWELL_TIME);
  present(CHILD_ID_TEMP_2, S_TEMP); // Dallas DS18B20. Temp
  wait(DWELL_TIME);
  present(CHILD_ID_HUM, S_HUM);
  wait(DWELL_TIME);
  present(CHILD_ID_BARO, S_BARO);
  wait(DWELL_TIME);
  present(CHILD_ID_RAIN, S_MOTION);
  wait(DWELL_TIME);
}

void loop()      
{
  bool rainBucketTripped = (interruptedBy == digitalPinToInterrupt(tipSensorPin));

  wait(500); // Give radio some time to warm up

  cycleCountLux++;
  cycleCountPressure++;
  cycleCountTemp2++;
  cycleCountHum++;

  if (rainBucketTripped) {
    Sprintln("Tipping bucket rain sensor was tripped");
    send(msgRain.set(1));  // Send tripped value to gw
    wait(DWELL_TIME);
  }

  // Fetch temperature from Dallas DS18B20 Temp sensor
  DS18B20sensor.requestTemperatures();

  // query conversion time and sleep until conversion completed
  int16_t conversionTime = DS18B20sensor.millisToWaitForConversion(DS18B20sensor.getResolution());
  // sleep() call can be replaced by wait() call if node need to process incoming messages (or if node is repeater)
  sleep(conversionTime);
  // Fetch and round temperature to one decimal
  float temp2 = static_cast<float>(static_cast<int>((getControllerConfig().isMetric?DS18B20sensor.getTempCByIndex(0):DS18B20sensor.getTempFByIndex(0)) * 10.)) / 10.;
  if (isnan(temp2)) {
    Sprintln("Failed reading temp2");
  } else if (((abs(temp2 - lastTemp2) >= tempThreshold) or (cycleCountTemp2 >= FORCE_TRANSMIT_CYCLE)) && temp2 != -127.00 && temp2 != 85.00) {
    // Only send temp2 if it changed since the last measurement
    lastTemp2 = temp2;
    cycleCountTemp2 = 0;
    Sprint("Temperature: ");
    Sprint(temp2);
    Sprintln("°C");
    send(msgTemp2.set(temp2 ,1));
    wait(DWELL_TIME);
  }

  uint16_t lux = lightSensor.readLightLevel();// Get Lux value
  if (isnan(lux)) {
    Sprintln("Failed reading lux");
  } else if ((abs(lux - lastLux) >= luxThreshold) or  (cycleCountLux >= FORCE_TRANSMIT_CYCLE)){
    // Only send Lux if it changed since the last measurement
    lastLux = lux;
    cycleCountLux = 0;
    Sprint("Light: ");
    Sprint(lux);
    Sprintln(" Lux");
    send(msgLight.set(lux));
    wait(DWELL_TIME);
  }

  double pres, hum;
  pres=bme.readPressure()/100.0;
  hum=bme.readHumidity();

  if (isnan(hum)) {
    Sprintln("Failed reading humidity");
  } else {
    hum = round(hum);
    if ((abs(hum - lastHum) >= humThreshold) or (cycleCountHum >= FORCE_TRANSMIT_CYCLE)){
      // Only send humidity if it changed since the last measurement
      lastHum = hum;
      cycleCountHum = 0;
      Sprint("Humidity: ");
      Sprint(hum);
      Sprintln("% RH");
      send(msgHum.set(hum, 0));
      wait(DWELL_TIME);
    }
  }

  if (isnan(pres)) {
    Sprintln("Failed reading pressure");
  } else {
    pres = round(pres);
    if ((abs(pres - lastPressure) >= presThreshold) or (cycleCountPressure >= FORCE_TRANSMIT_CYCLE)) {
      // Only send pressure if it changed since the last measurement
      lastPressure = pres;
      cycleCountPressure = 0;
      Sprint("Pressure: ");
      Sprint(pres);
      Sprintln(" hPa");
      send(msgPressure.set(pres, 0));
      wait(DWELL_TIME);
    }
  }

  // Sleep until interrupt comes in on rain tip bucket sensor. Send update every SLEEP_TIME.
  Sprintln(F("Waiting ")); Sprint(SLEEP_TIME /1000); Sprintln(F(" seconds before next reading."));
  interruptedBy = sleep(digitalPinToInterrupt(tipSensorPin), CHANGE, SLEEP_TIME);
}

Another try to explain: When it rains heavily, I don't want to check and report humidity and temp. Humidity and temp should be reported in the interval that I've set in SLEEP_TIME.

Can it be done?

@hek

I let 1126-202 grams water slowly flow into the 55 cm2 gauge and it generated 475 tips.

That gives me 0.3537 mm/tip. I'll go with that.

@hek Thanks! I just saw that while editing my first post. It sounds a little bit low.